Zhou Xuan: a sad but brilliant legacy

F. Scott Fitzgerald famously once said that "there are no second acts in life." He was speaking of
American life, but for China's top film actress of the late 1930s and 1940s, as well as its most popular singer during much of that era, there appear to have been three: Act 1 was desperate and Act 3 sad, but Act 2 was glorious. Zhou Xuan 周旋 (1918 — 1957) was born Su Pu in Changzhou, Jiangsu in 1918 (some sources say 1920). Her impoverished family soon sold her to a procurer, who placed her in a brothel, to be trained as a courtesan. But when she was 2 or 3, a Shanghai couple named Zhou saw her and were so charmed by the little girl that they adopted her, giving their daughter the name Zhou Xiaohong. Her actual birthdate is unknown, and her adoptive parents once stated in an interview that even they did not know her exact age.

She
displayed exceptional vocal promise at an early age, and her family had the
means to get her some formal training to go with her talent. In 1931, she joined Li Jinhui's Ming Yue
明月 (Bright Moon) Society, a Shanghai musical company. In her first performance, the 13-year-old
sang a song called
"The Glory of a Nation," one line of which was
""Contend with the enemy on the battlefield."

Her performance of this song was so well
received by audiences that troupe director Li Jinhui changed her stage name to
Zhou Xuan (Xuan meaning "contend" or "deal with"). Soon after, Zhou Xuan took second place in a
singing competition in Shanghai, and soon rose to become China's top pop vocalist, dubbed by press and public as
"the Golden Throat." After acting
in several movies in the 1930s, including a star-making role in 1937's《Street Angel》opposite Zhao Dan, she joined the Guohua Film
Company in 1938, going on to star in nearly 20 feature films for that company.

At the same
time her film career was flourishing, Zhou Xuan was China's top female vocalist
in the 1930s. Among her biggest hits
were "Nighttime Shanghai 夜上海," "When Will My Gentleman Return 何日君再来,"
"Wandering Songstress 天涯歌女," "Daughter of the Fisherman 渔家女," "A Lovely Morning 可爱的早晨," "Song of Four Seasons 四季歌"
and "Smiling Forever 永远的微笑," all but the last from major motion pictures in which she played the lead. There was a modern connection in the 1993
U.S. production, "Joy Luck Club": when the college girl and the playboy enter the 1930s night club
together, the song playing in the background is "Song of Four
Seasons," from《Street Angel》.

In 1943,
Zhou Xuan joined the China Film Company, Ltd., starring in such films
as 《Daughter of the Fisherman》and《A Dream of Red Mansions》. After
World War II, she moved to Hong Kong,
where she had the lead in such popular films as《An All-Consuming Love》,《We Each Have Our Strong Points》,《Memories of the South》and 《Secrets of the Forbidden City》and acted one of the
leads in the Wenhua Film Company's classic《Night Inn》, a Chinese
version of Gorky's "The Lower Depths." But her personal life was
unhappy: she was exploited by others, especially the men in her life.
She was married twice: her first husband was composer Yan Hua, who
wrote many of her songs, the couple divorcing after eight years of
marriage. She later lived with Hong Kong businessman Zhu Huaide, who
dumped her when she became pregnant and mentioned marriage. In 1950,
she returned
to Shanghai to play the lead in a movie to be titled《Bird of Peace》and during the filming began a relationship with the film's art
director, but again was left pregnant and abandoned. This sent her
over the edge: she suffered a breakdown which ended the film project.
She never performed again, and spent the rest
of her life in and out of institutions. Zhou Xuan
died of encephalitis in Shanghai, 22 September 1957.

Zhou Xuan's
story has provided the material for several dramatic treatments of her
life. A 1982 Hong Kong theatrical
release featured mainland actress Shen Danping in the role of a 1930s singer
clearly based on Zhou Xuan. The film's
Chinese title was《Nighttime Shanghai》, the same as Zhou's 1930s hit
song, but the film's English release title was《A Lady From Shanghai》. In 1987, a Taiwan TV
channel aired a miniseries titled "Yidai Gehou" (Song Queen of a Generation),
featuring Pan Yingzi as Zhou Xuan, and Jiang Houren in the role of Zhu
Huaide (called Zhu Feibai in the series). In 1989, HKTV broadcast a miniseries called《Wandering Songstress》," again after a Zhou Xuan hit song. In this production, Chen Songling was Zhou
Xuan, and Li Ming was her composer/husband Yan Hua. In 2005, a stage musical based on her life was presented in Beijing. In 2008, CCTV ran a 40-part miniseries titled《Zhou Xuan》and featuring HK actress Cecelia Cheung in the lead. The series concentrates on her early years, ending in early 1946 when she departed Shanghai for Hong Kong. Later retitled《Wandering Songstress》for DVD release, the entire series is available online (free, with commercials at the start of each episode) here and here. In Mandarin, but with only Chinese subtitles. Both sites are easily navigable, even for those with no knowledge of Chinese: simply click on the episode desired, and after that the symbols (pause, stop, rewind, full screen, etc.) are the same as YouTube. While some viewers claimed the series took some license with the historical facts, that is common practice in film biographies for dramatic effect, and overall the series is quite well done, beautifully capturing the sights and sounds of old Shanghai.

Filmography

1935:A Beauty's Kindness1936: 100 Precious Pictures A Girl
Incarnate Xi Lin Gate Candles of
the Night1937: Street Angels Spring is
Everywhere Goddess of
Wealth1938: Three Stars
Beside the Moon1939: Meng Jiangnü
Li Sanniang A New Hell Seven
Important Days Dong Xiaowan1940: Three Smiles Meng Lijun The Amorous
History of Su San Tale of the
West Chamber Dark Heaven Songstress
at the Ends of the Earth1941: Broken Dreams
on Mount Guan Concubine
Mei Darkest
Night The
Communicators Annoying
Spring Scenery1943: Daughter of the Fisherman1944: Cry of the
Birds A Dream of Red
Mansions1945: Happy Marriage1946: An
All-Consuming Love We Each
Have Our Strong Points1947: Don't Rely on
Youth Song of the
Songstress Flowers
Drain the Oriole Memories of
the South Night Inn1948: Secrets of the
Forbidden City

Zhou Xuan left a diary, which was published by the Chiangjiang Press of Wuhan in 2003, and edited by her elder son Zhou Min.

During her career Zhou Xuan recorded more than 200 songs, of which 114 were introduced and/or performed in her motion pictures. Many of her songs are freely available on the internet. This site is a good starting point, although of the 436 songs available, some are covers by other performers, and many are the same title or film clip contributed by different people. Not all of the links are valid in every region of the world, so if you get a pop-up saying a particular selection is not available in your region, just try another.